HRH AOR 2 - Thursday 20th March

I’ve always been a big supporter of Midlands rockers
Dante Fox and it’s great to see them
perform to the largest gathering for any band that played tonight. The Fox have
become regulars at HRH and it seems they have won a favourable fan base amongst
the HRH audience and it was fantastic to not only see them greeted so warmly
but also to see many in the crowd really getting into their set and singing
along!

Their set felt really short always a good sign of a
good gig! The Fox as always were fantastically entertaining and it’s great to
see the current line-up solidifying the live power of the band. It’s also great
to hear Keyboardist Pete Lakin fully emerged in the band with his delightful
keyboard additions to the two new tracks aired tonight especially on ‘How Will
You Know? (Where To Find Me)’. Vocalist Sue Willets for me will always be the
focal point of the band and she seemed to relish performing in front of a big
and appreciative audience. Sue is a great performer and again tonight she was
flawless and her voice is beyond beautiful, she creates truly stirring and
emotive melodies like no one else can seem to do. She did show some slight
nerves on the two new tracks the aforementioned one as well as the ballad ‘A
Love Affair’ but considering this was the first time she sang these songs live
these were very minor vocal wobbles and didn’t affect our enjoyment of these
tracks and judging by crowd reaction these new songs seemed to really impress
people.

The set had a rockier edge to it which of course
allows Guitarist Tim Manford to crank up his guitar and let rip, the heavier
edge went down well with many in the crowd I saw and it felt like Tim noticed
this and kicked it up a notch making sure all the songs managed to have a
powerful guitar presence. I always love seeing these guys live and every time I
see them it always seems better than the last! We were treated to ‘The Last Goodbye’ which
has become the bands solid opener in recent times, ‘Firing My Heart’, ‘Lucky
Ones’, ‘Lost Mans Ground’, ‘Who Still The Innocence’ and of course the song
they always finish with ‘Remember’. Anyone who knows anything about Dante Fox
will know that Sue and Tim originate from the Black Country although the live
somewhere posh now, so when a crowd member shouts ‘Up The Villa’ in reaction to
Sue’s accent it was cool to hear Sue’s reaction. Now most musicians would just
let something like this slide knowing the fickle nature of a an audience
especially a boozed up one, but it was great to hear Sue state with much humour
and a wry smile that she’s not from Birmingham she’s from Dudley and that
people should know the subtle difference. Dealt with wonderfully I felt I
normally don’t deal with been accused of been a Brummie so well, my reaction is
normally quite violent and followed by a two hour speech on why I’m not a
Brummie and that the Black Country is a totally separate entity. Oh and you
best hope there isn’t a computer handy or the power point presentation gets
dragged out!

There was a long gap before United Nations hit the stage and it saw the crowd that had gathered
for Dante Fox dissipate quite quickly. The hardcore AOR’sters soon flocked back
to the front again once they started playing their first song though. I’m sure I’m
not alone in thinking WHO? I like to pride myself on having quite a good
knowledge of AOR bands but these guys have never come to my attention until
very recently. Originating from the Eighties I’m told they gathered a cult
following in their day amongst British AOR fans, but today their line-up
features Black Country vocalist Lee Small, which is what has piqued my interest
in this relatively unknown band.

Their set felt like the story of two bands with some
songs which had a strong typical early ‘80’s English AOR feel akin to bands
like Bronz but mixed in with songs with a more straight ahead modern melodic
rock flavour which we are used to nowadays – an evolution of their sound but
without leaving the melodic rock path! With no offence meant to the band but
the star on show here was Small who put on an energetic performance and a stirling
vocal performance, he was quick to banter and draw the crowd into the band’s
songs which made me quickly warm to these guys. It was the more modern sounding
stuff that grabbed my attention as I found some of the older sounding material
a little too cheesy (yes – too cheesy even for me!) but on the whole I was
really entertained by United Nations and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out
for music and gigs from them.

My favourite song was ‘You Cheated’ a full on
melodic rocker which pushes all the right buttons, a melodic rock hit if ever I
heard one. They also ran through ‘Violation Of A Nation’, ‘Too Much
Information’, ‘I’ll Be Your Man Tonight’, ‘She’s Got The Looks That Kill’,
‘Black Hearts’, ‘Shock To The System’ and ‘When We Live Forever’.

The biggest name appearing tonight was Doogie
White’s La Paz and I’ve really
enjoyed their recent albums so I was quite looking forward to seeing them
perform. Their heavier blues driven edge definitely woke me up and got me
rockin’ and on the whole I enjoyed their set. It wasn’t a flawless one mind,
maybe it was a bit of tiredness given the lateness of the bands slot but
White’s vocals weren’t always as good as I know they can be it wasn’t a major
thing and his exuberant stage presence definitely made up for it as he
entertained and dragged the audience into the show. An appreciative audience
made their voices heard throughout but I sometimes felt the set got a little
stodgy and I think a mix of tempos on their set list selection could have
helped with the flow of their set. But in fairness besides a few minor gripes
it was a great set and it was really cool to actually see this cult act live!

Amongst their set we heard ‘This Boy is in Love With
You’, ‘Lessons in Love’, ‘Old Habits Die Hard’ and ‘Little Miss Treated’. I had
originally intended to watch tonight’s late band ‘The Spin’ but as tiredness
crept in and an early start in the morning I decided to call time on what had
been a great start to the Festival!